


The unreality of morning light

by Thatswherethelightgetsin



Category: The Mighty Boosh
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 14:45:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11762124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatswherethelightgetsin/pseuds/Thatswherethelightgetsin
Summary: Filling a prompt from EverythingBagel:A short story about the first time Noel and Julian wake up after falling asleep together on his giant bed after writing the first Boosh material.ORNoel wakes up in Julian's bed and isn't sure what's really real.





	The unreality of morning light

Noel woke slowly, swimming back to consciousness and blinking awake. He felt confused and too hot as he prised his eyes open. It felt like he was being suffocated under a giant marshmallow and he fought for a moment until he managed to get his head out from under the duvet and breathe somewhat fresher air. His dreams had been disconcerting and strange and had left him feeling oddly vulnerable. 

The room was bathed in a soft light, the curtains just about managing to take the glare out of the early morning sun. He immediately closed his eyes again. Julian's hair was poking out from under the duvet across the bed from him. He could see it, curly and messier than normal imprinted on the inside of his eyelids. He screwed them shut and tried to not move, scared he'd already woken him. 

He remembered the previous night mostly in a hazey-sheen but with odd details of startling clarity. Like the way Julian's eyes had crinkled with delight when he'd laughed at a joke. Or the way there was a thread hanging from his ratty t-shirt at the collar. Or the way their shoulders had brushed when they'd settled on Julian's ridiculously huge bed. 

Noel had blushed when he'd first seen it. He ducked his head and made a joke about Julian creating a second floor made just of bed. Julian had shrugged and said his feet poked out the bottom of normal beds. The image was strangely endearing and Noel had the sudden urge to knit him some socks with little cat ears to keep his feet warm. Perhaps he could do puppet shows for people who stayed over. Julian had looked at him funny when he suggested it, like he couldn't work out if it was a joke or not. Noel wasn't sure either. 

It wasn't the first time they'd written together, but Noel still hadn't managed to relax. Every time he felt like he'd got his balance, something would happen to throw him off again. Like Julian gently nudging his shoulder with his own or making a dismissive comment about Noel's friends. He wasn't used to not being sure how people felt about him. He mostly didn't care if they liked him or not, but he usually won people around. But it was different with Julian. He couldn't get a read on how he felt, but he really wanted him to like him. He had from the first time he saw him perform. 

Every time Noel decided that he needed to take a step back and forget about the whole thing Julian would do something to change his mind. Like calling him and asking him to write the new Goodies with him. Or picking him up from the pub and driving him back to Julian's flat. They'd drunk beer in his kitchen, finding everything hilarious. It left Noel feeling high and excited in a way he'd never experienced before. It was addictive and confusing. 

They always wrote when they were together. Julian seemed determined that they would be a professional partnership and nothing else. But Noel was sure there was more going on, that Julian liked him too. Exactly in what way he liked him, he wasn't sure. But it made his heart beat a bit erratically whenever Julian smiled at him. 

By the time they were sitting on Julian's massive bed and writing it was already late. Noel watched the time tick by on the clock next to the bed. It was moving strangely. Hurtling passed so quickly he couldn't seem to keep a hold of the moments as they went by. They'd continued drinking and everything started to get a bit muddled in his memory around two in the morning. But he'd felt jittery as the clock ticked beside them. He held himself ready to be kicked out when Julian realised the time. But he didn't want to leave. 

Not only were they making progress on a script but he liked being in Julian's room, with his whole focus just on Noel. It made him feel giddy and strangely proud of himself. But it also made him overcompensate to try and keep his attention and distract him from the time. He'd run out of ideas about five in the morning, his whole body aching from tiredness. He'd slouched further down the bed until he was mostly horizontal. 

Julian had gone to the bathroom and he'd let his eyes shut for a moment, trying to gather himself to think of a few more jokes. When Julian came back he wasn't really asleep, but suddenly it seemed very important that he not move. It was like he could feel Julian's eyes on him, burning a hole through his clothes. He wondered what he saw when he looked at him. He wished he'd thought to angle his head better on the pillow so he didn't have a double chin. 

He expected Julian to shake him awake and send him home. But he didn't. He could hear him walking around the room, moving things and finally turning off the light. He held his breath as the bed dipped. Julian didn't touch him, the bed was massive and there was no reason for him to. But Noel felt a stab of disappointment. He was aware of Julian's body across the bed from him. It was like he could feel the entire length of it, even though they weren't touching. He didn't dare move and was so hyper aware of every breath he took he was certain he wouldn't sleep. But he did, lulled by Julian's soft breaths. 

He opened his eyes again, slowly. Julian seemed to be fast asleep. The clock showed it was only a couple of hours since they'd fallen asleep. He edged across the bed, wondering how to make it seem like he was just rolling over in his sleep. He wasn't sure what he wanted, perhaps to just be a bit closer to him. He ended up on his back, staring at the ceiling. It was cracked and stained, like maybe water had come pouring through and left it warped and discoloured. He imagined water filling the room around them and him and Julian floating away on his bed. Just the two of them on an endless sea. It was a strangely appealing thought. 

His hand had landed close to Julian's stomach under the bedclothes. He wanted to stretch his fingers out and brush the skin he imagined finding between Julian's boxers and t-shirt. He contemplated it, a vague but persistent idea. His thoughts got more vague and confusing after he imagined actually touching Julian. But he really wanted to find out what would happen if he did. 

He rolled onto his side, only he was much closer than he was expecting and he ended up almost knocking into Julian. He held himself as still as he could but he was too late. He could feel Julian stirring and shut his eyes tight, feigning sleep. 

Nothing happened. He waited a few seconds, before slowly blinking his eyes open. Julian's little eyes were watching him steadily. He froze, totally unsure what he should do. Then Julian smiled sleepily at him. He looked soft and rumpled from sleep and Noel's stomach flipped like he'd missed a step going down the stairs. 

"You hog the covers," Julian said, his voice was rough and deep. 

"I do not!" Noel squeaked in outrage. "Your covers were trying to smother me in my sleep. I thought I was dying." 

Julian's eyes lit up with pleasure. His expression hardly changed, but they were so close Noel could see he was amused. 

"Sorry I fell asleep," he whispered. "We were on a roll." 

"It's okay," Julian said softly. "It was late." 

Noel yawned as if on cue and felt himself blush. "Sorry." He still felt a bit buzzed from the alcohol and it made him bolder than he would have been otherwise. He shuffled forward until he was lying on Julian's pillow with him. "Your bed is well good. I'm sorry I said it was too big." 

"It is too big when it's just me." Julian was always saying things like that. Noel got the impression he meant more than he was saying but he wasn't sure exactly what that was. 

He didn't know how to reply. "That's because of the evil covers, they're tricking you into thinking you're lost when you ain't." 

Julian chuckled. "You can go back to sleep and then we can carry on later." 

Noel nodded, feeling pleased he wasn't being chucked out. "Will you protect me if the covers smother me again?" 

"Yeah," he said, "you can trust me. I'm a man of action. You'll be perfectly safe. Get some more sleep, little man." 

Noel felt a jolt at the nickname. Julian had only called him Noel or "you with the hair" before. It felt intimate and he smiled. "I like it here," he whispered, wriggling forward until they were nearly nose to nose. "I like it here with you. It's like a magic world where we can do anything." 

Julian stilled at the words, looking at him with something like wonder. He moved forward suddenly and dropped a kiss onto the tip of Noel's nose. It was a silly and sweet thing to do. Somehow embarrassing and lovely and utterly Julian. 

Noel felt something coursing through his body. A word too big and scary to even contemplate. But he knew what it meant. He knew it with a certainty that he reserved for things like the sky being blue and Mick Jagger being a God. 

Their eyes met and Noel held his breath. Jualin was looking at him intently, like he couldn't work him out. Noel wondered if he ought to kiss him or say something but he couldn't think of anything. They lay there staring at each other for a long time. It was calm and Noel could feel himself beginning to fall back to sleep. He fought against it but his eyes were dropping closed. "I should always sleep here," he said. 

There was a long pause, and he opened his eyes to check if Julian was still awake and found him still looking intently at him from across the pillow. 

They locked eyes before Julian reached out and gently brushed some hair out of Noel's face. "You're brilliant," he muttered. Noel's heart leapt as Julian's arm snaked over his waist and pulled him closer. "You're like my best friend," he said, even as his hand was pulling up Noel's t-shirt and running over his hipbone. 

It should have been comforting to have confirmation that Julian did like him. Apparently he really liked him. But instead he felt confused and disappointed. He had been sure Julian was about to say something else entirely. He wanted to know what it was. He wanted to know why he hadn't said it. He wanted to know how to make him say what he was really thinking. But he had no idea how do that. 

Instead he lay still as Julian's hand ran gentle circles on his bare skin. The movements became smaller and smaller before he could sense Julian had fallen back to sleep. He kept his eyes closed and tried not to think about all the things he could have done differently to get a different ending. 

When he woke again Julian was gone. He felt panicked for a moment before the door to the bedroom opened and Julian appeared. "Breakfast?" he asked, he seemed jovial, but Noel could tell immediately that the mood from earlier was gone. 

"Genius," he said, trying to grin. 

"I've only got bread but I make mean toast and jam." He was gone before Noel could nod his agreement. 

Julian burnt the toast but Noel ate it anyway, feeling awkward and too small in Julian's flat while his housemates joked around nosily. They didn't comment on the fact Noel was still there and had clearly been in Julian's room with him all night. He wondered if it had happened before. He wondered if there were a string of young, confused comedians all over London feeling a bit queasy and sad and hoping Julian might call and ask for another writing session. 

He made his excuses and headed back to the room to get his stuff. Julian's t-shirt from the night before was lying in a heap next to the bed. He paused before picking it up and stuffing it into his bag, telling himself it would make a good costume once he'd customised it. But he knew he wouldn't do anything to it. That he was actually just desperate for a reminder that the night had been real. 

"You up for trying again later in the week?" Julian asked as Noel left. He was lent against the doorframe and looking down at Noel with something like anxiety, as though he was genuinely unsure if Noel would want to see him again. 

"Course," Noel said with a grin. "I got a few things to do in the week and like, I have a date and that but I could see you at the weekend?" He heard the words come out of his mouth but he wasn't sure why he said them. He didn't have anything on. Certainly nothing he wanted to do more than see Julian. Maybe it was some form of self protection. But Julian nodded amiably and agreed to meet up with him on Saturday afternoon. 

Noel walked home in the pale morning light feeling almost unreal. He wondered how much of the last few hours had been a dream. He wondered which parts of it would turn out to be real and which would fade like fog in the early morning sun. 

THE END


End file.
